The research team has conducted several interviews with specialists in the crypto-related sphere who have vast experience in different sectors of blockchain-related industry. We were fortunate enough to be participants of Ian Balina "Crypto World Tour" held on the 15th of June in Moscow. Ian Balina is a crypto influencer and video blogger, who is popular for video overviews of various crypto projects, mainly ICOs. In his videos, he shares his thoughts about projects based on his personal token metrics formulas. He is originally from Africa but currently, live in the USA.

While visiting that conference we did our best to benefit from networking opportunities which were given to us there. Besides recording directly Ian`s speech we were privileged to ask some questions to him personally. The list of the questions and his answers may be found in Appendix 1. The main underlying message of his speech was that token metrics, in any case, have paramount importance for cryptocurrency investors. He also shared his personal attitude regarding the most relevant metrics he personally pays attention to. For example, he highlighted the team of the project as the main dimension. He said that besides their working experience he tries to check their skills via video conversations to tentatively understand what to expect. Of course, his own profile helps him to organize such Skype talks, however, it proves again the full extent of elaboration before investing. Besides "team" metric he also highlights the general idea of the project and its category by quoting his own statistics mainly in the infrastructure projects with profitability sometimes reaching to 50-100 times profit. Besides oral advice he also shared on the big screen his own spreadsheet where all the metrics were introduced to the audience.

Coming back to the networking opportunities, the research team also did an interview with "10$ Buffet" channel founders who also attended this event. These are two young men Artem Popov and Alik Arslanov. The main essence of their channel is an experiment when investment in crypto projects are made every day and the sum is always 10$, which is affordable for everyone. Another message which they tried to deliver by starting such an experiment is that cryptocurrency investing can be profitable despite opinion of a famous investor, mainly in stocks Warren Buffet.

After having a conversation with them research team has learned that investments into ICO and post-ICO vary significantly and hard to be measured, the market situation is essential to consider before investing and that their personal strategy, which actually differs from the experiment in terms of ICO is a short-termed one with quick returns.

Besides interviews with Ian Balina, Artem Popov and Alik Arslanov on the questions of the research team Sergey Chmill, the head of a crypto fund "Matrix CIB" agreed to answer. The questions were primarily focused on how crypto funds work and what strategy they use. At the same time, the fund`s work was separated from Sergey`s personal tactic while investing in blockchain projects. We have spoken with him also about projects` life cycles and when it is better to sell the initial investments. Several metrics were considered separately, including the level of hype around the project. Besides, some tips while analyzing were mentioned by him. He said that for every investor it is needed to be a participant of the "Telegram" group of the chosen project. All the questions can be asked there. Moreover, he mentioned that an early joining of the "Telegram" group may lead to some preferences in the following token sale. He believes that if an early group entering equals an opportunity to be a token holder of a very good blockchain project with consequent high profit than it is better to subscribe. According to his words, such actions are very easy but potentially can make an investor a millionaire. Similarly, he advised to participate in all the "airdrop" or so-called "crowd gift" campaigns of the very best projects if such are carried out.

After conducting interviews with cryptocurrency enthusiasts, the stage of data collection and analyzing has been completed. The obtained results have served as the basis for the creation of special guides for ICO and post-ICO investors.

Full-fledged guide description.

e) Market capitalization of competitors (10,5,0) (What is the market capitalization of the competitors? 10 - >10x; 5 - 2-10x; 0 - <2x);

f) Growth after ICO (20,10,0) (What is the growth after ICO? 20 - 1-2x; 10 - >5x; 0 - >10x);

g) Time after ICO (20,10,0) (What is the time passes since ICO? 20 - 1-3 months; 10 - 0-1 or 3-9 months; 0 - older than 9 months).

To count the overall score, it is needed just to sum all the resulting indicators and count them as the overall number out of 100. If the final indicator is higher than 80 - the chances that a project will be profitable are high. The more illustrative guide with the main metrics to consider before investing is enclosed in Appendix 4.

The first point when thinking about investing in a particular project, which is already presented on the exchanges, is the number and quality of exchanges on which it is listed. In this regard, the situation may be different. The project can be presented only on one exchange and can be listed on several exchanges, but for example, they cannot be called very popular and their trading volume is low. Or it may be that the project is presented on 2-3 exchanges and all of them are top quality ones. While analyzing this metric it is necessary to understand clearly all the possible prospects, which can be forecasted for the near future. Our research team has determined that a lack of listing on the major exchange is, in any case, an advantage because there is a big opportunity to be listed there. Respectively the chances for the growth of a certain coin increase significantly upon the announcement of a listing. However, sometimes investors prefer not to take risks and invest in an already valid project presented on many large exchanges. Usually, such people want to get more stability from their investments.

The next important point in the selection of post-ICO projects to invest is the market trading history of the studied token. There is a significance for an investor to define how a certain asset has behaved in a particular period of time. Crypto industry has particular tendencies, which are very often repeated, and which should be taken into account while the analysis. Of course, there is no guarantee of repetition of the same pattern, but at the same time, this point cannot be excluded from the analysis. Following on, strong projects often demonstrate an upward trend, even at the time of a bear market. If such a pattern has already had during the trade history, it shows that the project has a certain force. It is important to determine why this happened before, whether it was once or several times and what could be the catalyst for the same movements in the future.

The following item which has the same importance while investing in post-ICO is the proportion of the current price of a certain token and its highest price throughout the whole period of the listing time. A good indicator is when the difference is 50% or more, that can show great potential for the growth of the project and means that it lost significantly from its highest levels of the price. However, this metric cannot be considered as the only and should be complemented with other ones. For instance, it could be a situation when the project just lost 99% and actually represents just an empty shell.

Another crucial point to understand before investing is market capitalization of projects-competitors which have a similar profile. It is anticipated that if a similar profile project has a capitalization which is much higher than the capitalization of the analyzed one, it means that there are great perspectives for growing again considering that other metrics of both projects are roughly the same. Such a metric should be analyzed only together with other ones.

The total growth of the project since the initial coin offering has also a paramount meaning for investors. The ideal is when there was a growth, but it was not too high. For instance, two-times growth could possibly talk about even more increase in price in the nearest future. At the same time when these indicators are 400 % or more than it is already a borderline. Maybe all the news regarding the project development have already been finished and all the plans are achieved. If the project has already produced extraordinary profits for investors it is better not to risk investing in it and expect a price decrease.

Various researches and statistical data show that crypto projects which start to be tradable firstly have high profitability and the next fall in price. And then the next period for growth comes again. For an investor, it is vital to follow the time horizons of the project life cycle as well as its overall age. Ideal for post-ICO investors is when a certain project has already given profitability for ICO investors but has lost some positions afterward. This moment is extremely important in paying attention to.

Discussion

After the work accomplished, a preliminary result of the research may be summarized and discussed. Firstly, the work was recommendary in nature and was aimed to be public. While analyzing literature regarding blockchain no similar guides were founded. Moreover, the research team did not see similar correlation analysis in the open access. Interviews with crypto enthusiasts, for instance, may be encountered on the internet, however, not many people ask about specific stuff which is bounded by the confidentiality level sometimes. However, our respondents were more than welcome to share their personal experience with us. The research team has stated several hypotheses at the beginning:

a) Short-term strategies are more effective for ICO investments rather than long-term ones;

b) Investments in projects which were already chosen by funds are profitable for ordinary investors;

c) "Blockchains" and "Blockchain service" categories of ICOs (infrastructure ones) are more preferable for investments related to other categories;

d) The presence of "High public bonus" is better for the profitability of blockchain project;

e) The degree of hype around a blockchain project positively affects its profitability for investors;

f) There are certain indicators of ICO which negatively influence on projects` profitability.

We defined that short-term strategies are more effective for ICO investments indeed. At least the majority of our respondents used the short-term tactic in terms of return on investments. On the contrary, post-ICO is characterized by deliberate profit expectation. At the same time market condition play a big role as well. We have confirmed that hypothesis.

Furthermore, it was determined that funds` participation in a certain project increase the chances of overall success for ordinary investors. Funds invest a lot but always choose the best project to minimize risks. This hypothesis can be confirmed for sure.

The next hypothesis was confirmed by the research team during all stages of the research. Infrastructure projects ("Blockchains" and "Blockchain service") really have greater profitability if to compare with other types.

Spearman correlation test has demonstrated the research team that there is an inverse relationship between variables which means that high public bonus, on the contrary, is bad for the project` return on investment ratio. That is why this hypothesis was declined.

The hype around the project can lead to different consequences. Oftentimes its level is not comparable with the strength of the project itself. However, sometimes high level of hype motivates the team of the project to work even more efficiently. This hypothesis was also declined.

The final hypothesis was dedicated to checking are there any metrics which are negatively mark different projects. This hypothesis was supported based on statistical analysis.

Chapter 6. Conclusion

To take everything into consideration it is important to highlight that blockchain startups draw increased attention from companies and the global community. The study of this cutting-edge technology moves the economy forward. There is a chance that with the help of blockchain our life can change dramatically and hopefully in a positive direction. In this paper, we studied not only the blockchain technology itself, but also related terms - crypto-currencies, mining, ICO, crypto-market, and others. Now blockchain technology is being studied by large companies in order to apply it in practice in the future. This can affect a variety of areas of our lives, including the banking sector, medicine, public services and so on. However, the blockchain needs to be adopted for the general mass of people, as the technology is not suitable for the mass market now. The cryptocurrency market in global is rather unstable and extended on the "crypto" market. The 20% change in the price per day is the norm, but on the classical exchange, this event will cause huge consequences. In general, the prices of cryptocurrencies are very much influenced by the general trend of the market. For example, there are periods of general recovery when prices rise for almost all assets. At the same time, there are periods of general decline, when even very promising at first glance projects lose in price. Investors agree with this; also, this is confirmed by the history of trading. In comparison with the traditional market, even during a major crisis, there are assets that grow in price. There are practically no such assets in the "crypto" market. Most recently, in May 2019, was held the annual "Consensus" conference, during which "Bitcoin" prices increased by several thousand dollars. Excluding 2018, the increase in the price of "Bitcoin" during this conference is observed from year to year. Even such an event as a conference can set the market trend. Competent work of a specialist is to see the beginning and end of these market trends. At the same time, an important factor is the ability to choose potentially successful and failed projects. In fact, in the "crypto" sphere there is a specific factor of seasonality, the deep study of which is not included in this work. However, this factor becomes noticeable to people who are faced with the "crypto" sphere. Accordingly, an important skill is the ability to get the most out of a positive market trend and minimize losses in a negative market trend. Its detailed study possibly will allow to take steps for normalization of the processes inside and bring the necessary stability into the market.

Due to the high yield, blockchain startups attract many investors by imaginary prospects of success. Among projects, there are both genetically working and successful ones and real scams at the same time. The ability to correctly allocate investment funds and have proper money management is extremely important for investors. Not all existing investment strategies that are well-established in the traditional economic conditions work as effectively in the blockchain sphere. (Dorofeev, Maidanov, Snopov, 2019) Our aim was to identify the most appropriate strategies for investment in blockchain startups, as well as risk assessment methods. The study is based on the work of experts in the field and the statistics. The data was taken from open sources and also from personal experience in a crypto investment company. Additionally, a practical study was conducted by our team of researchers. A practical part is dedicated to investors in this area who shared their thoughts regarding the features of work, the used strategies, and their own cases. With the help of answers to the interview question, as well as statistical analysis, we have confirmed or disproved all the hypotheses. In practice, we have seen that many investors do not use well-formulated algorithms. They are guided by a set of factors and criteria that, together with their own subjective assessment, influence the decision to invest. And there are generally accepted indicators that investors look at. At the same time, during the interview, one of the participants described a computer algorithm for evaluating blockchain projects. However, it was not available for us due to the high commercial value of such an algorithm. In addition, the above algorithm requires special skills to work with it, and our task was to make a simple and understandable guide. In general, the interviews vastly helped to improve the understanding of the current realities of the crypto market. The received answers became a transition point between dry statistics and direct participation in investment. They make it easier to understand the principles on which cryptocurrency investors work. In addition to interviews with experts, statistical analysis played an important role. We made a big pivot table that has been specified more than 20 metrics for ICO 2018. A lot of work was done, in which the partners of the research team from related crypto companies took part. This research paper describes in detail the process of drawing up such a table, as well as the selected criteria for filling. Thanks to this, everyone can start collecting data about the ICO using a ready-made template created by our team. The interpretation of the above data allowed us to identify many significant observations. We analyzed the relationship between a variety of ICO criteria and compared them with the actual profitability of the projects. For example, we saw a positive relationship between the severity of the verification procedure of ICO participants and the actual yield. This means that projects that had a "whitelist" verification system and "KYC" procedure, in general, showed great profitability. At the same time, the relationship between many criteria and the actual profitability of the project was not found. This makes it possible to simplify the work of investors and reduce the process of analysis, excluding unnecessary variables. Determining the importance of a particular criterion was checked by searching for the relationship between various aspects of the ICO and its profitability. This test was carried out using statistical analysis methods. Accordingly, on the basis of the obtained results, the stated hypotheses were accepted or rejected. Most of the hypotheses were confirmed. These include: "Short-term strategies are more effective for ICO investments rather than long-term ones"; "Investments in favorable projects of funds are more likely to be profitable"; "Blockchains" and "Blockchain service" categories of ICOs (infrastructure ones) are more preferable for investments related to other categories", "There are certain indicators of ICO which negatively influence on projects` profitability". To test the last hypothesis from this list, all aspects of the ICO that were part of the original database were tested. Testing was carried out using the previously mentioned methods, its aim was to find the relationship between the ICO metric and the "Return test". All statistically significant relationships are reflected in the constructed regression model. Most of the detected relationships were quite weak. A certain set of indicators did not have a mathematical effect on the profitability index. There were no significant connections between the variables "Hype score", "Country with most traffic", "Tokens for open market, %", "Number of Team Members" and "Return test". There are also certain indicators that were not included in the analysis. The variables "Main industry", "Country of origin", "Unsold Tokens" have too many values, which makes pairwise comparison meaningless. To include them in the analysis, it is needed to conduct an additional grouping of values into broader categories. No final decision was made on this issue, so it was decided to exclude these metrics from the statistical analysis. During the study, a number of hypotheses were rejected: "The presence of "high public bonus" is better for the profitability of blockchain project", "The degree of hype around a blockchain project positively affects its profitability for investors". A linear regression model was constructed on the basis of statistical operations. This model did not show a full explanation of the relationship between the criteria. Perhaps the used methods were not enough to describe the required phenomenon. Accordingly, in future studies, it is possible to devote more time for pre-processing and the use of other methods of statistical analysis. The time factor was not taken into account when constructing the regression model, which could affect its accuracy. At the same time, the result can be explained by the fact that the influence of independent variables is really very small. The profit indicator is a rather complex indicator, which is influenced by a huge number of factors. It is assumed that not all of these factors were taken into account in the construction of the model. This regression model can be supplemented or replaced in future studies.

After analyzing the results, we have made a specific guide for a person who wants to invest in blockchain startups. This was the task of this work and it was successfully completed. At the moment there are no such papers due to the young nature of the sphere and certain fear of possible mistakes. As a consequence, many investors fail and incur unnecessary costs owing to the difficulties of perception of rich information flow. This study extends the understanding of the investment principles in the blockchain projects, as well as help investors to reduce risks and more efficiently distribute their funds.

As already mentioned, the blockchain-related sphere is developing quite rapidly, so the study will require additions and corrections. At this stage, legislation on crypto investment is still emerging, which will significantly affect this sphere in the future. This paper is partly touching the aspect of state regulation in the "theoretical foundation" part since there is a global discussion on this topic. For example, in Russia, there is no legislation on cryptocurrencies and mining. At the same time, mining is prohibited in China. And this is despite the fact that on its territory there are huge mining farms. Their appearance is due to the low cost of electricity required for the operation of the crypto farm. The desire to make money on cryptocurrency sometimes makes people break the law. This is the basis of the argument of people who oppose the blockchain and the blockchain-related sphere as a whole. In their opinion, complete anonymity provides too much freedom. This may affect the development of the shadow market with illegal goods or services. In general, the future of blockchain startups depends on the development trends of this sphere. Therefore, it is important to maintain the scientific interest of the public, conducting new research. There is a huge potential of the technology, which is noted by a team of researchers, as well as scientists and public people. However, the successful development of the blockchain requires its integration into society. It is happening right now even though a lot of people do not notice it. We hope that in the future the potential of the blockchain will be applied in diverse applications.

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